Based in Troy, New York, Ecovative Design is another wonderful tale of the ability of America’s  higher education system and its entrepreneurs to turn ideas into innovative products and businesses. Former classmates Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre founded the company not long after graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 2007. Now, according to a feature on the NY Times’ Green, Inc. blog, the start-up “…is angling to provide not just a mass-market, organic insulation material, but also a replacement for Styrofoam, the non-biodegradable, carbon-intense material widely used in packing and shipping.”

As seen on their website, the young company has two main products thus far (if anyone has used one of these products, let us know your thoughts):

1) ecocradle™
a drop in replacement for protective EPS packaging
breaks down naturally in your garden or compost
great for shipping heavy and fragile items
can be custom formed into almost any shape of your design

2) greensulate™
an ideal replacement for rigid board foam
R-Value of 3 per inch and great structural performance
ideal for Structural Insulating Panels

How is local agricultural waste and fungi turned into these usable products? The NY Times article provides an answer:

Both are produced through microbinding, in which local agricultural waste — including buckwheat, rice and cottonseed hulls and other materials high in lignin, a complex organic polymer found in many plants — is mixed with cells from a specific type of fungi.

Ecovative claims their Styrofoam replacement is 100% compostable after use. So whether it ends up in the garbage or in the backyard compost heap, the product is quickly returned to the natural environment. With a cradle-to-cradle philosophy, Ecovative aims for sustainability, efficiency, and environmental friendliness. This is apparent in their mission statement:

“We believe you can achieve sustainability without sacrificing performance or affordability.”

This is also the key to seeing if their natural, biodegradable replacements for insulation and Styrofoam can compete with the current status quo products and market leaders. With all the buzz surrounding such a potentially revolutionary product, attention will be on the company to see progress in mass production. Just as there were (and are) disruptive technologies in the phone and computer industry like VOIP that are now taken for granted,  so to will innovative, efficient, and practical green technologies move into the mainstream. They will  invigorate the market and grab our interest, imagination, and dollars, thereby fundamentally altering the relationship between our consumer behavior and the environment.

- Justin Manger (Thanks to Jude for the tip.)

*Personal note: When I learned about Styrofoam’s negative environmental impacts as an elementary school kid, I wrote to McDonald’s asking them to stop using it for their BigMac packaging. My timing was excellent. I must have written exactly when a major campaign against Styrofoam use was occurring. A short while later I received a reply stating that they would no longer use Styrofoam boxes for BigMacs. Needless to say, it thrilled me to think that I had an impact on their decision, whether I truly did or not. I’d love to see Ecovative Design have their own McDonald’s moment by eventually inking a deal with a major company looking to burnish their green credentials, do good, and possibly save costs by switching from Styrofoam to acorn™.